Fracking study finds combustible levels of methane in water after EPA gave the all clear

A report has found contaminated drinking water in parts of Texas, infuriating residents who had pressured the EPA to test for methane only to see the agency back off when the company allegedly responsible claimed that its own tests proved otherwise.

Steve Lipsky, a resident of Fort Worth, Texas, complained to the
Environmental Protection Agency that his family’s water seemed to
be bubbling in a way that made it appear similar to a glass of
champagne. The EPA issued an emergency order and immediately
began investigating in December of 2010, warning at least two
families that their water supply may be contaminated with
flammable methane.

The EPA dropped its investigation, rescinding its emergency
order, and then refused to explain its reasoning. Documents later
obtained by the Associated Press revealed that the EPA did indeed
have evidence against Range Resources, which operated a drill
near Lipsky’s home, but decided to drop its investigation when
company executives threatened to pull Range Resources out of a
national study into hydraulic fracking.

Documents further indicate that the EPA ignored analysis that the
contamination was the result of drilling and relied on tests
conducted by Range Resources, which found no evidence of
contamination.

Now, another full year later, an independent study conducted by
Duke University has determined that combustible levels of methane
do exist in wells near Weatherford, Texas and recommends that the
EPA re-open its investigation. The results, published Friday,
seem to validate local residents’ assertions, including Steve
Lipsky’s claim that his well water will actually ignite when he
holds up a flame.

“I don’t understand why they would let the company that was
accused of doing the wrongdoing conduct the tests,” resident
Shelly Purdue told Bloomberg News. “It doesn’t make any
sense.”

Duke researchers found 54.7 milligrams per liter of methane in a
random sample of drinking water in December 2012. Curiously, the
Range Resources study conducted just a month earlier found a mere
20 milligrams and 4.2 milligrams in mid-2012.

Energy companies use hydraulic fracturing, better known as
“fracking,” to drill through think layers of rock to
access oil and gas reserves previously considered to be out of
reach.

Environmentalists have asserted that this practice is harmful,
especially because of the risk it presents to the drinking water
consumed by the rest of the general population.

One reason the EPA has been so soft on the industry, critics say,
could be because the agency is reluctant to stand in the way of
what has quickly become a very profitable business model. A Range
Resources spokesman said the company’s testing was conducted by
an independent researcher, as well.

“Range used state and federally approved testing
methodologies that are internationally recognized and those
results have found historically consistent water quality,”
Matt Pitzarella told Bloomberg. “Range’s operations did not
cause or contribute to the long-standing and well-documented
matter of naturally occurring methane.”

Lipsky said he now spends approximately $1,000 each month to
bring water to his home. He described the experience as
“total hell” and has wondered whether his family will
have any choice other than relocate. He has waged his own legal
battle against Range Resources and has refused the company’s
explanation.

“I just can’t believe that an agency that knows the truth
about something like that, or has evidence like this, wouldn’t
use it,” he told the AP.

Fracking opponents have criticized President Obama, lawmakers and
the EPA for their apparent unwillingness to rein in the
influential gas and oil companies. Dr. Sheila Bushkin of the
Institute for Health and the Environment at University at Albany
wrote in a blog post that the issue is much more important than
the usual political finger-pointing, though.

“When you listen to the personal experiences of actual
residents of Pennsylvania and other states where fracking has
gone forward, you will hear stories of dead cows, pets, sick
children, poisoned water, and other serious health and
environmental problems,” she wrote. “These stories
confirm our need for much greater research and evidence-based
scientific facts.”